Doom Concert
by Punman
Summary: It all started with a ticket to Athena's concert in South Korea. Now, it's a dual performance with Athena and. . . .Iori. . . Part 3 now added! Due to so many crazy characters appearing, a fanfic name change is in order, too! What next?!?
1. The First Attempt

PROLOGUE TO THE TERROR:

South Korea was not good to Jhun Hoon today. It had been a few months after his "accident" which cost him his entry into the King of Fighters 2001 tournament, and Jhun had completely recovered from his injury. "I'll celebrate with an outing to Athena's concert!" exclaimed Jhun, excited about Athena Asamiya's upcoming South Korean tour, starting in Seoul.

The day was pretty cloudy and sullen, but by no means unpleasant in Jhun's eyes. Of course, even a snowstorm in midsummer wouldn't phase Jhun, as long as he was going to see Athena live! "_Oh, how wonderful to hear Athena live again!_" Jhun thought._ It's been over a year since I last heard her voice! Of course, that was during KoF 2K. . . . when I was fighting against her. . . and allowed myself to lose because of her. . . Which cost the Korean team a chance at the finals. . . but don't think of such things, Jhun! You're her biggest fan! You'd do anything for her! Even if it'd only be just one little thing like going to see her. . .LIVE! ON STAGE! Now if only this stupid line would move. . . Wait a sec, these guy's don't look like Athena fans. . .They're all. . . fat. . . and for some reason in costume. . . with weird face paint and red swords. . . . WAIT A SEC. . . . I'M IN THE WRONG LINE!!!!!_" As Jhun was lost in thought over seeing Athena sing (LIVE and ON STAGE!), he hadn't realized that he had stood in a line for some stupid scifi movie featuring a freaky tattooed guy and some ornately–dressed woman with too much face powder. As a result of this travesty, Jhun promptly began to wait in another line nearby, only to find out later that he was in line for some random new game system that looked like a VCR on crack. Undaunted, Jhun waited again in yet ANOTHER line close by. "This has to be it!" Jhun exclaimed. "_This is it!! This is it!! This has to be the line I have so arduously searched for! Oh, Athena, I shall be seeing you in two days! AHH! I'm next in line! I can almost hear her sweet voice. . . oh god, It's my turn now!_" Jhun slowly shifted up to the box office and let out a slow, meticulous"One ticket please!" Jhun felt a sense of relief as the ticket vendor gave him the ticket. "YEAH!!" Jhun exclaimed as he triumphantly held up his prize. Shortly thereafter, with Jhun walking along the busy streets of Seoul, Jhun decided that it would be a good idea to examine his ticket (to make sure he wasn't gypped). Almost immediately after examining the ticket, Jhun's disturbingly joyous expression turned into an even more disturbing mixture of disgust, awe, and something along the lines of "OH GOD WHY?!?". 

Jhun was so excited about this line being "the one" that he didn't realize that he had bought a ticket to Rickenbacher, the band featuring that Orochi madman Iori Yagami.

NOW, THE FOURTH PHASE IS ABOUT TO BEGIN. . . . .

"I don't want to go to the Rickenbacher concert!!! I want to hear Athena's sweet, gentle voice, not some crazy punk's angsty wailings!!!" Jhun shouted to the world. The Rickenbacher concert was to be held in two days, the same day as Athena's concert, and Jhun was eager to rid himself of the ticket before then. "I know! I'm sure my eternal training partner (rival) Kim's two sons are probably into stuff like this! Maybe one of them would like to go. . . 

With that, Jhun embarked on a journey to the Kaphwan family residence.

"What brings you to my humble home, my dear training partner?" asked Tae Kwon Do champion of justice, Kim Kaphwan with his trademark shiny-toothed smile.

"Hey, Kim. Using bleach on your teeth again?"

"What was that, my friend?" enquired Kim, a glint emanating from his eyes.

"Ah. . .nothing. . . say, where are Chang and Choi?"

"Oh, those two are off on an errand for my wife. You know, getting groceries and stuff like that. All part of their reformation, ya know? Of course, Choi was to be your responsibility since '99, but with your. . .ahem. . .injury (Jhun could almost notice a chuckle from Kim's toothy grin), I had to take him in again."

"Isn't it dangerous for former crooks like Chang and Choi to be doing errands for your wife?"

"Like I said, dear Jhun, it's all part of their training. . . . " Kim's teeth sparkled as he talked, to which Jhun noticed uneasily. "So anyway, why would you want to know where Chang and Choi are, Jhun? You hoping to take Choi back and reform him yourself?"

"Well. . . not really, you see. . ." Jhun was uncertain what to say.

"If it has something to do with Choi, then it probably has something to do with Athena's upcoming South Korean concert tour, doesn't it?"

"Wah–how did you know about Athena's concert?" Jhun was surprised to hear Kim say something that wasn't related to serving justice or Tae Kwon Do's 'immeasurable power'.

"Hey, I hear it from Choi all the time. You know how he loves to karaoke to all her songs, don't you? He just can't stop talking about her. 'Athena this, Athena that', why just the other day I caught him on my computer downloading doctored Athena po–"

"Ooookay, that's enough information, Kim!" Jhun quickly interrupted. "_That Choi! I cannot bear to see such a corrupt fan to go to Athena's concert! I haven't been training him hard enough. . . ._" thought Jhun, planning on how to deal with his reformee. "_Certainly Choi wouldn't want to go to see Rickenbacher, as he'd probably have lung failure if he tried to karaoke to their songs. . . .I don't think Chang would want to go either, so that leaves me with Kim's two kids. . . .". _

_". . . ._Say," Jhun said aloud now. "Where are your boys, Kim?"

"You mean Dong Hwan and Jae Hoon? Jae's in the back training and Dong's off with May Lee on a date. Why are you asking?"

"Well, I –– wait, you said that Dong Hwan's on a date with. . . .May Lee?"

"Yes. Yes, that's what I said."

"But. . .May Lee. . .she's. . .how. . .?"

"How what?"

" Her constant blathering about justice and Tae Kwon Do being 'immeasurably powerful' are almost as annoying as yours! How could an easygoing first-born like Dong Hwan _stand_ that girl?"

"The same way he can stand _his father_, dear Jhun," Kim replied. Kim's smile remained, but the tone of his voice had an air of annoyance about it. Jhun likewise started to become fed up with Kim's attitude again. They were about to go at it when a voice stopped them.

"Hey! Dad, are you picking a fight with Jhun again?"

"Jae!" Kim exclaimed. "Me and Jhun are merely. . . discussing whether we should put an internet filter on the computer. . . ."

"Man, that would suck! Then I couldn't be able to download B.Jenet po–"

"JAE!!!!" Kim couldn't believe his youngest son. "How could you be so inconsiderate of the female body?!" Kim was heartbroken. "Oh, whatever could have happened to my boy to turn him into such a lowlife perverse soul?"

"Oh, come on, Dad! I was only kidding you –" Jae started to reply. Suddenly Jae's eyes focused in on Jhun's right hand.

"AH! Is that a. . . t-t-t-t-icket. . . . for . . . . I-i-i-i-i-o-r-r-r----

"Oh, this?" Jhun held up the ticket. "Yeah, I bought this thinking that it was for Athena's concert, but they turned out to be for Rickenbacher."

"d0Od~! 10Ri's s0 c0o1!!!" Jae shouted. 

"Goodness, Jae, I didn't know that you liked Iori (let alone idolizing Iori) so much!" observed Kim.

"Idolize Iori? IDOLIZE IORI? He's t/-/3 r34$0n wh¥ I g0t mY hAir $tyl3d lIke Thi$!!

Jhun and Kim just stared in amazement. Finally Jhun spoke up. 

"Well, if you idolize Yagami so much, than you'd be willing to pay for this Rickenbacher ticket I have here, right?"

"Huh? You mean his band? Geez, they're terrible!! I wouldn't go to one of their concerts to save my life!" Was Jae's rather unexpected reply.

"Why did you get so worked up over my ticket, then?" Jhun was obviously confused.

"Well, I did say that Iori's the c0oL3St Th1nG 3v3r!!!," Jae started. Kim and Jhun could only look on in wonder. "But I didn't say anything about his band, did I?"

"So, you're saying," replied Jhun, "that you respect Iori as a fighter, and not as a band member?"

"Exactly!" answered Jae affirmatively. "Iori's just th3 gr3at3$t!!!!!11"

Kim and Jhun could only stand there speechless. Suddenly Jhun slouched over and an aura of unhappiness enveloped him, depressed over the fact that his concert ticket had not left him yet. "Ah, cheer up Jhun!" said Kim. "You'll find someone else to sell those tickets to! Probably some crazy fangirl or something!" But even Kim's always-happy words did not elate Jhun's depression. 

"Yeah. . . some crazy fangirl. . . ."


	2. Reaping What You Sow

It was a sunny afternoon, with Athena's big concert only a day away. Seoul had not forgotten about it, for there were many posters and signs of her concert lined up along subways, city streets, and in numerous parks. Of course, Seoul did not forget Rickenbacher either, for many posters of the band (featuring Iori, no less) had made their way into the city as well, almost in tandem with Athena's posters. Sie Kensou noticed such a poster as he sat down on a bench to eat a meatbun that he had just bought. With one bite Kensou immediately threw the bun into a nearby trash can. "Hmph!" said Kensou. "They just don't make meatbuns like they do in China!" Kensou's grumpy mood after nibbling his pseudo–meatbun was just one of many bad experiences during his trip to South Korea two weeks before. Sie had been on the plane with Athena, along with Chin Gensai and Bao, to give her support for her performance. The Psycho Soldiers team had always supported Athena's concerts, but Sie had supported her the most since he secretly loved her. Of course, Athena rarely noticed Kensou's love for her (either that or she just couldn't care less), so at the airport she gave him a coach ticket while she and the rest of the Psycho Soldiers team sat in first class. "Athena, why do you hate me so?" thought Sie out loud. "Oh, well, at least I have my precious. . . ." Sie reached into his denim jacket pocket to pull out an Athena ticket. After looking at his ticket for ten minutes Sie let out a forlorn sigh. "Oh, Athena. I finally have the key to the gateway of your heart. . . . . but why must you torture me so?" Sie was happy about getting a ticket, but nonetheless, he felt as though Athena had jilted him again. "Why didn't she give me a backstage VIP pass for free? I AM a proud member of the Psycho Soldiers team, after all! But she gave Bao AND that old geezer backstage passes instead of me!" Sie thought for a moment on how hard it was to acquire his prize, waiting in line for hours and hours, only to find that he was in line for some store that specialized in selling "pocket monsters". It took two more wrong lines before Sie found the correct one. "It's just not fair!!!" Sie shouted aloud, scaring many parkgoers. After burying his face in his hands and sobbing for several minutes, Sie stood up from his bench and announced to himself: "I'm hungry."

"I'm hungry," said Jhun to himself as he walked along the busy city sidewalks. Unfortunately, all the crazy Iori fangirls had their money well spent by the time he got to them, so Jhun had visited several of his friends and neighbors instead, hoping to rid himself of "the evil" (referring to his Rickenbacher ticket). With everyone Jhun visited, the same answer was given, and every time he was filled with despair at the sound of the words: "No thanks." Since he had spent nearly the entire day searching for people to buy his ticket, Jhun had forgotten to eat lunch. He knew several places where he could eat, but Jhun wasn't in the mood for much of anything in particular. "I just want to eat something so I can get back to searching for willing buyers as soon as possible!" Jhun declared. So Jhun walked along the sidewalks, hoping to find a willing buyer of "the evil" while trying to find something to eat. Soon afterward, Jhun realized that with each failed attempt to sell "the evil", he became more and more hungry. Eventually Jhun just wanted to eat something. "Guh. I can feel my innards wasting away at my own stomach acid. . . .I gotta eat something but I can't tell if I'm near any restaurants that I know about!" Jhun hadn't realized that his trek to sell his ticket had taken him across the entire city. Then it began to rain.

Unbeknownst to Jhun, Sie Kensou was equally as depressed (and hungry) as he was. Sie walked along the rainy busy streets, not noticing the rain but instead thinking to himself. Actually, he was just complaining on how life isn't fair, or how Athena probably won't go out with him, or how the world hates him, blah blah blah blah etc. "_I shouldn't have had to go through all that suffering to get a ticket to one of MY teammate's concerts!_" he thought. Finally, his hunger overtook all physical control, and Sie ran to the closest convenience store he could find for something vaguely resembling a meatbun.

"_I shouldn't have had to go through all that trouble just to get a ticket to a band that I don't even wanna GO to!_" thought Jhun as he wandered around for shelter from the rain. Finally he noticed a nearby convenience store across the street. "I'd might as well eat there. . ."

The convenience store, known to all as "SunSun", was empty except for two people. One was rummaging through the freezer, looking for meatbuns. The other simply picked a random package out of a random aisle, hoping it was eel. One man's hunger overcame all sense of depression, while the other's depression overtook his own hunger. Eventually both men ended up sitting on a city bench just outside the store, thankfully covered by the store's overhang. An electronics shop was next door, displaying many TVs at its window. Both men ate their respective foods. The one man tried his best to choke down his unauthentic meatbun, while the other slowly nibbled on his fermented seaweed (he was unlucky about choosing his meal). The two men did not notice each other for the longest time, until ten minutes into this bizarre showcase the TVs nearby began advertising a commercial for Athena's concert for the upcoming day.

Both men's reactions were the same: "It's NOT FAIR!!" they shouted simultaneously on the bench. Their sudden outburst shook them both out of their seat! Finally Jhun noticed the man who stood next to him was none other than Sie Kensou of the China "Psycho Soldiers" team of the KoF tournaments! Likewise, Sie noticed that the man before him was the Tae Kwon Do newcomer for the Korean team, Jhun Hoon! Jhun's voice finally spoke up amidst the pouring rain. 

"Going to Athena's concert, huh Sie?"

"Yeah." I guess you're mad about something that has to do with that, Jhun?"

Jhun smiled at Sie's comment. "Hmph." If you insist, I bought the wrong ticket and–"

"Sh! Listen!" Just then the Athena commercial (it was one of those long ones. . .) caught Sie's attention:

"Presenting Athena Asamiya's PSYCHOLoveLove SOUTH KOREAN TOUR, appearing LIVE with RICKENBACHER (featuring IORI YAGAMI) at the Seoul SANGAM WORLD CUP STADIUM!!! Tickets are sold out for this DOUBLE POP CONCERT SHOWCASE!!! Two of Japan's leading music phenomena, ATHENA and IORI will ROCK YOUR WORLD!!! Happening on Sunday at 8 pm!! 

That's SUNDAAAAY!!! SUNDAAAAY!!!! 

**SUUUUNNNDDDAAAAAYYY!!!!!!**"

The last "sundaaay!" rang in the ears of both Jhun Hoon and Sie Kensou. "Say, Jhun, Maybe I was overreacting . I mean, I guess I should be thankful that I'm going at all! Oh, sorry if that seemed offensive to you, having the wrong ticket and all. . . .Jhun?" Jhun Hoon maintained a bewildered expression as he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out his Rickenbacher ticket. Jhun noticed how he always held the ticket so it read "Rickenbacher". Jhun then held the ticket with his right hand covering the "Rickenbacher" logo. As soon as he had done so, Jhun's eyes widened. The other end read "Athena PSYCHOLoveLove Tour".

"This is. . . .this is. . . ." was all that could come out of Jhun's mouth. Sie also took out his ticket and noticed that he was holding it so that he only saw Athena's logo. 

"We both saw what we believed. . . ." Sie said.

"Say, Kensou. . ." Jhun started. "Want to come with me to Athena's concert?"

"Sure thing, Jhun! Wait a sec. . . that means. . . . .we still have to put up with Iori's band!"

Both men shuddered at the thought. But, both men were finally going to Athena's concert with no regrets.

HOW WILL THE CONCERT TURN OUT? 

TO BE CONTINUED?


	3. Plushies and a Thickening Plot

The date was June 11, 2002.  
  
The place was the Seoul Sangam World Cup Stadium.  
  
The crowd was a strange mixture of opposite forms of entertainment.  
  
One side represented the short-skirted bubbly teeny–boppers. The wanted Athena Asamiya.  
  
The other represented the gothic–loving groupies. They wanted Richenbacher (actually, just Iori Yagami).  
  
Niether side wanted to hear the other's performing idol.  
  
It was a day that neither Jhun Hoon nor Sie Kensou would ever forget.  
  
Ralf Jones wanted to forget it all.  
  
"Christ, why are we stationed at this god-forsaken rice-bowl?" a frustrated Ralf spouted to the sky.  
  
"We're here for duty, sir." A cold–eyed blue haired girl replied to her comrade. At an instant Ralf softened his tone (but considering it's Ralf, not by much) to answer the woman.  
  
"Yeah, yeah, I know, Leona. But why are we hanging around the souvenir stand? Shouldn't us tough-mercenary types be hidin' out somewhere, oh, I don't know, more inconspicuous??" Ralf motioned toward the numerous Iori/Athena fans walking by or staring at the three strange militaristically–dressed "fans" standing around the stand.  
  
"Calm, down, Ralf!" Clark Steel chimed in. "We're here from our original position because Leona said she wanted to look around! And YOU were the one who agreed to come along!"  
  
"Well. . . .I. . . .yeah. Sorry, Leona."  
  
"It's no bother." Said Leona in reply, devoid of emotion as always. Ralf and Clark observed Leona as she perused the random assortment of Iori/Athena merchandise on display at the souvenir stand. The two mercenaries noticed on how their Commander's adopted daughter focused mainly on the various forms of propaganda featuring Iori Yagami  
  
"Iori, you and I are linked by the same bloodline. . . .and yet even though our tainted blood has been cleansed since the Orochi incident five years ago, I still feel this connection . . . .is it love. . . .or maybe sympathy? . . . . Maybe it's–OOH! How cute!!" Leona suddenly broke her train of thought to exclaim at an Iori plushie.  
  
"Hey, I think she's found something," noted Clark to Ralf.  
  
"Yeah, Leona sure is somethi– Huh? Oh! Yeah! Right!" Said a flustered Ralf to Clark in reply, proceeding to see Leona hold up the plushie to the cashier.  
  
"How much?"  
  
"That, my dear, would be 1500 yen."  
  
"That's expensive. . ."  
  
"Yeah, it was management's idea to raise the price. . .but the fans are willing to pay anyway! Those Iori plushies are going fast. . . .they're almost as popular as those Hide dolls from a while back––" Suddenly Leona interrupted mid sentence, sensing something was terribly wrong.  
  
"Yen? Isn't this Korea?"  
  
"Yeah, but with so many crazy Japanese fans around, management saw it fit to lay off the currency exchange for the time being. . . . so what's it gonna be, young lady?" Leona contemplated on the reasoning behind a lack of currency exchange. After a while, she concluded that no matter how odd the management's reasoning was, it didn't matter because she had no money to begin with. To rectify her problem, Leona put the plushie back and turned to face Ralf and Clark, still looking onward. Her expression was that of the infamous "sad puppy face".  
  
"Claaaaaark. . . . . . .?" asked Leona in the best desperately cute sounding voice she could muster. Clark was obviously aghast at such a change in Leona's personality, his grim exterior failing him.  
  
"Y-y-y-yes?" stammered an understandably confused Clark.  
  
"Could you buy this adorable plushie for me? It's only 1500 yen. . . ."  
  
"Yen? Something isn't right. . . ." thought Clark. "Gee, that's expensive, Leona. . . ."  
  
"Plleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaassse?" Leona was getting the hang of this. Clark looked at Ralf, asking a silent plea for help, but Ralf amusingly shook his head. After a few more minutes of the evil puppy glare from Leona, Clark finally broke down.  
  
"*Sigh*. Okay, Leona. Here you go." Clark was about to hand her his credit card when his comm. radio interrupted them.  
  
"Ikari Team! Come in! What are you doing away from your original post? You're going to attract attention!" It was Commander Heidern! Clark immediately took the comm. radio out of its holster.  
  
"Well. . . .you see, Commander. . ." Clark tried to calm the commander down. Leona knew better, so she quickly took the radio from Clark's hands to reply to her foster father personally.  
  
"Sorry, father," said Leona, back to her usual cold tone. "It was my fault. We shall return to our original position as soon as possible." At the sound of his daughter Heidern softened in tone.  
  
"All, right, Leona. Just make sure that it doesn't happen again. And next time, please make sure to address me as "sir", alright?  
  
"Yes, sir. Leona Heidern, out." She gave the radio back to Clark, who in turn put it back into its holster.  
  
"Thanks for saving us hell, Leona," Ralf said after the ordeal had passed.  
  
". . . . . ." was Leona's answer.  
  
"I see she's back to normal", whispered Clark to Ralf with a nudge.  
  
"Yeah. Hard to believe what a plushie can do to such a cold woman. . ." Leona overheard the two gossiping to each other.  
  
"Well, Commander Heidern wishes that we get back to our original position to continue our mission." She interrupted.  
  
"Yes, ma'am," both men replied.  
  
"Speaking of mission," Ralf spoke up, "Why are we assigned to oversee this concert? What's so unusual about a Rickenbacher/Athena Asamiya concert?"  
  
"The mere fact that it's a Rickenbacher/Athena Asamiya concert makes it unusual, Ralf" replied Clark.  
  
"Hm. I guess we'll have to wait and find out! Leona, what was our original position, again?"  
  
"I believe it was the east dumpster."  
  
"We have to wait beside a dumpster?"  
  
"No. Inside it."  
  
Ralf was not pleased at this statement.  
  
"I hope we don't have to wait long before something interesting pops up!" 


End file.
